Austin City Councilor Takes Power Company To Task Over Outages

[#TexasPolitics365]

Austin city councilor MacKenzie Kelly hold a news conference yesterday to take Austin Power to task for poor communications with their customers, as nearly 200,000 in Central Texas remain without power and heat after a severe ice storm. 

Specifically, Kelly, a Republican, said the lack of communications, and the slow repairs were unacceptable.

"With our current lack of power and for a city of this size, we deserve better." She called for power lines to be placed underground, something critics have said would cost billions of dollars and take decades to complete.

(Full story HERE.)
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Upstart Mackenzie Kelly Defeats Incumbent Flannigan In #Austin Council Runoff

[#TexasPolitics365] 

Mackenzie Kelly has defeated incumbent Austin City Councilor Jimmy Flannigan in a runoff election Tuesday.

Kelly, a Republican who ran on a pro-law enforcement platform, won by 4 points, taking 52% of the vote to Flannigan's 48%.

Flanagan, who will be leaving the council after only one term, had argued in favor of defunding the Austin Police Department, going so far as to call for the literal dismantling of the police department's headquarters downtown. Kelly received the Austin Police Association's endorsement, While Flanagan received the endorsement of city irefighters. Both organizations send Kelly congratulatory words on Twitter Wednesday morning.

Kelly released a statement to the media Tuesday night following her victory:

"From standing courageously behind our law enforcement community to demanding safer conditions for our homeless population to fighting for transparency at City Hall, the voice of Northwest Austin has been heard. Considering the stark differences between my campaign's priorities and the platform of the incumbent, their united voice is resoundingly clear this evening! I am honored to be the next representative for District 6 on the Austin City Council and will work immediately to begin healing the divisions in our community."

On her Twitter feed, Kelly said Mayor Steve Adler had called her Wednesday morning to congratulate her on her victory. The previous evening, Adler heaped effusive praise on Flanagan for his service to the community as a councilor.
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Two Austin City Councilors Face GOP Challengers In Runoffs

[Texas Politics 365]

The Austin Chronicle reports on the Republican challengers seeking to unseat two Progressive Democrats on Austin's city council, most notably Mackenzie Kelly's runoff against far-left leaning Jimmy Flannigan, who has infamously proposed literally dismantling the city's police headquarters.

A GOP party official working with Kelly says the Republicans have been vigorous in their block walking efforts throughout the campaign.

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